Simple Tips for Growing Awesome Tomatoes

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"Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to garden, and the whole neighborhood gets tomatoes."

True story.

By now, most of us already have our tomato plants growing in the ground. Up here in the north, I'm starting to see some beautiful little green tomatoes replacing the blossoms. Once a few of them get large enough, I'll harvest some for fried green tomatoes. Mmmmm.

Here are some of my favorite tomato growing tips. I keep it as simple as possible. Like most of you, I don't have the time to research fancy solutions, nor the money to spend on them. So if I can find a solution using what I already have on hand, that's the route I take. If I can't, then it honestly probably won't get done. 

I hope these tips help your maters grow and yield generously. :)

1. Prune the suckers: These are the small shoots that grow in the crotch between a stem and a branch. These growths will never produce fruit, so many gardeners will pinch them off. No sense in letting them use up valuable nutrients! This is especially true for indeterminate varieties of tomatoes.

2. Coffee Grounds and Egg Shells: I keep a bowl on my kitchen counter collect the used coffee grounds and egg shells from the day. At the end of each day, I carry them out to the garden and lay them at the feet of my tomato plants. The coffee grounds work as a great mulch and a fertilizer, as they can contain nitrogen and other nutrients. The crushed tomato shells can be put into a hole before you plant the tomato, or it can be crushed up and laid at the bottom of the plant. This can help add calcium (to prevent blossom end rot), and will also deter slugs from trying to snack on your hard work.

3. Epsom Salts: Dilute 1 Tablespoon of Epsom Salts in 1 Gallon of water, and water your tomato and pepper plants if you suspect a magnesium deficiency. Some researchers are starting to "dispel myths" and claim that there is not, and never has been, sufficient research to claim that this is relevant to home gardeners, but for intensive crop plantings where there's a proven mineral deficiency in the soil. I'm no expert, so I won't form an opinions on this. I think it's worth reading up on what different experts do have to say. However...if my 'maters start showing signs of magnesium deficiency, I'll be all over that epsom salts, myth or not. A gal can get a little desperate when something threatens her babies plants, and she'll try anything that Pinterest says will work.

4. You could also try whispering sweet nothings into their foliage. I won't judge you for serenading your plants in a desperate attempt to convince them to grow. We've all been there. 


When all else fails, powder them in a thick-ish coat of diatomaceous earth and pray. It's working for me (so far).


What are your favorite tips and tricks for growing awesome tomatoes?

A June Garden Update

Sometimes as a northern gardener, it can be really frustrating to see blog posts of southern gardeners harvesting zucchini as mine is only just getting its first set of true leaves. Or seeing green tomatoes being harvested, when I'm only just seeing my first tomato blossom! Ah well. Could be worse, right? I watch the show Alaska: The Last Frontier and can only imagine how difficult gardening must be up there ... but they still do it, and they do it well!

So here's a picture update of what's going on in our garden these days. I had some root maggots attack my radishes. I purchased some beneficial nematodes, diatomaceous earth, and some of this stuff and applied all three. Maybe it was overkill, but I kinda panicked. I ended up just pulling up all of the radishes. I have some beets and other veggies planted nearby that root maggots would just love. So I decided to err on the side of caution. So far I haven't seen any evidence of them since pulling up the radishes and applying the nematodes. We'll have to wait and see!

Here we have rhubarb in a pot, peas almost ready for harvest, beets, and one of the 4 types of peppers plants I have growing:

Here we have butternut squash, apples, and a little tomato blossom!

And here some purple cabbage, cauliflower, and zucchini:

This isn't everything. We also have blackberries, strawberries, pumpkins, kale, broccoli, green cabbage, asparagus, cukes, cow peas, blueberries (still too young to produce at 2 years old, but growing well!), a total of 3 varieties of tomatoes (san marzano, black cherry, and brandywine), and 4 varieties of peppers (sweet bell, jalapeno, cayenne, and hungarian hot wax) and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. 

Aside from the root maggots in the radishes, we haven't had any major pest issues (yet). Last year we had a miraculously bountiful harvest and no pests to speak of. I'm a little nervous about what this year will have in store for us ... what are the chances of us having such an uneventful and plentiful garden again this year? 

Next post I plan to chat about some of the things I've learned about growing tomatoes ... every gardener's favorite topic. 

2014 Garden Plan and Hopes for Spring

“The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

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Here is a list of what we will be growing in the gardens this year. In addition to this, I also have some blueberry plants and some blackberry brambles. I’d like to find a place for a dwarf peach tree, perhaps. I'll start winter sowing sometime this week. Last year I'd already begun by now, but it's been a crazy few weeks. Another advantage of winter sowing is that you have a little more wiggle room in your planting times.

(P.S. I figured out why I couldn't upload pictures before. Technical issue resolved. Regular stunning sub-par photography will resume moving forward.)

We have had a great deal of snow and freezing temperatures this year. It’s not abnormal for New York, but I think we’ve been colder and snowier than recent years for sure! Thankfully we’ve had bits of sunshine to help keep our moods up. The children and I have enjoyed sitting by a sunny window watching the winter birds out by the feeders. We’re working on learning to identify common birds. We’ll start reading the Burgess Bird Book and following along with the Great Backyard Bird Count in a couple of weeks. Even winter has opportunities for enjoying God’s creation around us!
 
 
Cool Weather Crops:

• Mesclun
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Kale
• Radishes
• Carrots
• Cabbage 
• Peas

Warm Weather Crops:

• Butternut Squash
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• 3 varieties of tomatoes (a beefsteak, a paste, and a cherry)
• Peppers (Bell, Hungarian Hot, and Jalepeno)

Herbs:

• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Basil
• Lemonbalm
• Cilantro

 

Flowers (these plans are still coming together):

• Calendula
• Nasturtiums
• Sun Flowers
• I'm thinking I'll order the Cottage Garden flower mix from Botanical Interests
• Maybe more? I might have my hands full already with the veggie garden. I might keep the flower garden small.
• I would LOVE to do a Mary garden in the front yard, though. Hmmm…..

I posted here and here about how to create a garden plan.

The biggest little doing some nature sketches from a sunny window

I shared this post at the Prairie Homestead Barnyard Hop and Frugally Sustainable's Frugal Ways, Sustainable Days Blog Hop.

Winter Sowing

I think most people who are interested in gardening realize that starting from seed is generally the most affordable way to go. Even if you go with fancy pants organic heirloom varieties, you’re still going to save a boatload with starting from seed. Sounds simple, right? Get some seeds, plant them in some recycled containers with some soil, and then put them under … whoa. Wait a minute. Put them under what? You can only put so many seedlings on a window sill. So, what do you do? Grow lamps? A green house?

Some may be fortunate enough to live in a warmer climate where they don’t need to extend their growing season in order to get a decent yield. As for the rest of us? Suddenly, starting from seed isn’t so frugal when you’re talking about spending hundreds on grow lamps or a green house. Sure, it pays off in the end. You’ll get years of use out of them. That’s true. It’s a worthy investment. But what if you don’t have the cash now?

Before you know it, you’re buying half-dead hybrid seedlings from a department store, only to have them refuse to grow, never mind produce. All because you just can’t afford the set up required for starting from seed. Not that I know from experience or anything.

My friends, let me welcome you to the world of winter sowing. It’s amazing. It’s freaking amazing. And you can do it on a shoestring budget, even if you live in a cool climate. You can do it for veggies, flowers, and herbs. You need a few things: Plastic containers that are clear. My favorites are milk jugs and clamshell type produce containers. Soil. Water. Mother Nature. That’s it!

I’ll share some links to websites where folks who are way more experienced than I have already explained it in detail. I winter sowed almost everything last year. Anything that needed to be planted before my last frost date got winter sowed with the exception of peppers and tomatoes. I successfully grew onions, kale, mesclun, butter crunch lettuce, cilantro, thyme, marjoram, sage, and broccoli with the winter sowing method. All the rest got direct planted after the last frost date, including squash, zucchini, pumpkins, cukes, beans etc.

(Pictured above are some mesclun, kale, and broccoli seedlings. These were winter sown in late January last year. This picture was taken outside in April, 6 weeks before my last frost date! Look at how strong and healthy and adorable they are! )

I was not able to successfully winter sow tomatoes or peppers, and ended up buying heirloom seedlings from a local nursery. I’m going to try again this year with different varieties. I’ll update!
Here are some links that describe winter sowing in detail. I used these as a guideline last year:
http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/11/winter-sowing-101-6/
http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/01/what-to-winter-sow-and-when/
http://www.wintersown.org/
What to Winter Sow and When: http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/01/what-to-winter-sow-and-when/

(The same mesclun pictured above, thriving!)

So, basically you create little greenhouses out of your recycled containers. You poke or drill drainage holes on the bottom and vent holes on the top, put in 3-4 inches of soil, plant your seeds, water, and then stick them outside. Yes. Stick your tender little baby seeds out in the snow. As the weather freezes, thaws, freezes, thaws, freezes (… you get the idea), it softens the outer shell on your seeds. When they are ready to sprout, they sprout. As the weather starts to warm, you’ll want to watch the soil to make sure it doesn’t dry out, and water accordingly. This creates plants that are hardier, stronger, healthier, and more productive. Last year I winter sowed my mesclun at the end of January, set them outside, and I had baby lettuce sprouts by late February!

Do you grow kale? You should! It produces like a beast, making the most inexperienced gardener feel like a rock star. Plus, it’s delish and crazy healthy. This kale was also winter sown in January and produced well through November in my Zone 6 garden.

I linked this post to: Frugally Sustainable and the Homestead Barnhop! 

2014 and Garden Planning

Happy New Year!!

We had a busy, yet relaxing Christmas this year. Sounds kind of conflicting, doesn’t it? We were busy in that we spent a great deal of time moving from one family party to another, but it was relaxing because we were so at peace with it. I’ve always found holiday party hopping to be extremely stressful. I really resented it. This year, though, something was different. I was honestly just thankful for the opportunity to be able to visit with so many friends and family. Not that there’s anything wrong with wanting things to be low key. There isn’t. I just really wanted to take this season to be thankful that we have the ability to visit. I know so many live far away from their family. Holidays can get lonely when everyone you know and love is far away. I found more relaxation and peace in my decision to be grateful than I ever did in my resistance in previous years where I sort of dug my heels into the ground about the whole thing. Gratitude … it’s something that I’m working on within myself. Among other things.

So, now we’re on to 2014! I’m not big on New Years Resolutions, but I do have a few goals for the homestead. I want to continue to work towards growing as much as our own food as possible. Maybe get few laying hens. Continue fixing up the house for resale (so that we can some day move onto our dream homestead). Last year I chose a virtue that I wanted to work on, and I really worked toward being more humble. This year, I’d like to work on being more charitable. With my time, resources, talents, personality, in the way I treat others, in the way I perceive others, etc.

We’re in the middle of a wimpy sort of winter storm right now. I don’t really think it qualifies as a storm, but the weather people are issuing severe winter storm warnings. What do you think? Does 3-5 inches of snow sound like severe winter weather to you? I suppose it’s all relative. I remember the ice storm of 1991. I was very young at the time, but I still remember days without power and being huddled around my grandparent’s wood burning stove for warmth. So, most things sort of pale in comparison.

(My daughter got ahold of my camera and messed with the settings…that’s why the date and time stamp are there. And way off.)

Being holed up in the house for a few days while the wind chills are in the negative have me daydreaming about Spring. And this leads me to garden planning. Naturally. I know it sounds sort of crazy to be thinking about a garden in the dead of winter, but I’ll actually be starting planting in just a few weeks. Yep- Sowing seeds in January in Western, New York! More on that later.

So, I’ve got a cup of tea, my box of seeds (I’m pretty sure that there’s a proper way to store seeds from year to year that doesn’t involve an old baby wipes container. Note to self: Research seed storage), my 2014 seed catalogs, and some scrap paper. I’ll do a separate post on garden planning. How I do it, anyway. Have I mentioned yet that I have a notoriously BLACK thumb? Prior to last year, I hadn’t ever really kept a plant alive for long. So, I’m certainly not an expert. I did have an exceptionally successful garden last year, though. So I’m happy to share what I’m learning as I go along.

In the meantime, I recommend ordering seed catalogues from companies who offer HEIRLOOM seeds (aka not genetically modified. You’ve heard of the GMO debate with Monsanto and the like, yes? No? Do you live under a rock?). Anywho, here are a couple of my faves:
https://botanicalinterests.com/
www.rareseeds.com
It’s also helpful to locate a local nursery that offers heirloom seedlings. Last year I had a heck of a time germinating tomatoes for some reason, and I was able to get heirloom tomato starts from a local nursery that saved my behind. Starting from seed is ideal for the budget, but sometimes you just need a little help.

Also: Pick up a pad of graph paper and start collecting clear containers, such as clear milk jugs and the clear clamshell type produce containers. Meet me back here in a few days- I’ll discuss more garden planning then.

P.S. You will notice from my above photographs that I am not one of those bloggers with mad photography skills. I promise to work on that. Maybe. If I can find time.

- Ashley

I linked this post to: Frugally Sustainable and Homestead Barn Hop

Introduction

Hi! I’m Ashley. I’m starting this blog to *hopefully* chronicle my family’s journey to a homesteading lifestyle. We currently live in less than ideal quarters for such dreams. That’s not very different from many of you other wannabe homesteaders, though, if I had to guess!

We bought our first home about 1 1/2 years ago. We truly wanted a homestead on some acreage, but living as a somewhat larger family on one income made it difficult to find the perfect buy within our modest budget. That’s okay, though! We didn’t let it discourage us. In a lot of ways, the home we bought was the perfect starter home for us. I’ve always loved the saying, “Bloom where you are planted,” and that’s just what we intend to do. God really did provide and pull through. So, anyway, we decided that we would go forward with our little piece of suburban heaven on half an acre. The previous owners appeared to be avid gardeners as there was a 10ft X 17ft veggie garden already in place in the back yard, and a massive flower bed on the side of the house. My biggest qualm with our current home is that town zoning laws ban some of the animals that I’d really love to have and that would help us to become more self-sufficient. I really want goats. I mean…I *really* want goats. I’ve toyed with the idea of starting a petition to change our town laws. I already know of a few neighbors in my area who have a small flock of black market hens. I’m sure I could get the support for it. If anyone reading this has experience with doing that, I’d love to hear your story!

Anyway, I was very pregnant with baby #4 the Summer that we moved in, so we decided to wait a year to plant a garden. Last Summer was my first real, successful garden. I’d made pitiful attempts in the past, but always managed to kill plants. A green thumb doesn’t come naturally to me. All the more interesting for the aspiring homesteader, eh? We planted lots of veggies, some blackberry brambles, and a few blueberry bushes. We also discovered 2 apple trees on the back property line. So, we’re blooming where we were planted. We have dreams of…oh, we’re not sure yet. Maybe buying some acreage and building a sustainable type cabin for our family. Or, maybe a yurt! How cool would that be?! We’ve tossed around the idea of a small sustainable farm. And sometimes we even joke about getting real crazy going off grid. We’re not sure exactly where God is going to take us.  We have a passion for becoming self-sufficient, doing things the old fashioned way, supporting sustainable agriculture, and really just going back to basics.